


What Makes a Leader

by facelesshellion



Series: Guides, Tips and Tricks, and Quick Definitions [3]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Implied/Referenced Sexual Harrassment, Kirk has a shady background, Like seriously it's in the same universe but it's basically a standalone, Uhura is a pessimist, You don't need to read LHM's Guide to Keeping a Friend to understand
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-15
Updated: 2013-09-15
Packaged: 2017-12-26 14:55:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/967283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/facelesshellion/pseuds/facelesshellion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Uhura knows how promiscuous Kirk was during the academy. She isn't hopeful about him leading the Enterprise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Makes a Leader

**Author's Note:**

> Through multiple issues at school, I felt that I needed to express what my thoughts on a good leader would include and how s/he would act. What better way to express these than by using one of the best leaders ever as a template? 
> 
> As difficult as it was to not have Bones playing a main role, I liked writing from Uhura's perspective! Strong women make me swoon and I think I did at least halfway decent with her, but I'd definitely like to explore her more. Let me know what you guys think! Tell me how to improve her. I tried to keep it simple with this one, but I'd like to go more in depth with her. 
> 
> Like it said in the tags, this is technically in the same 'verse as Leonard H. McCoy's Guide to Keeping a Friend, but you do NOT need to read it to understand this one. (A tip of the hat to my McKirk bromance, though, towards the beginning.) 
> 
> Thanks for reading!

A week after the Enterprise’s exploration began Jim Kirk announced various “unofficial rules”. 

Normally, the captain’s “unofficial rules” are learned. Uhura remembers how her internship had gone. She hadn’t had much direct contact with the bridge crew on the Farragut, but her colleagues kept her updated. 

The captain would not accept reports with any misspellings. 

The captain would not allow drinks near any electronic devices, despite the assurance that the consuls and such have been waterproof for centuries. 

The captain would not approve shore leave requests to Riza. Ever. So stop asking- 

No chicken. Ever. 

Just quirks that people learned to accept about the man. It was, technically, his ship, and if he wanted to have an ongoing war with grammar and proper spelling, then that was his business and they would have to deal with it if they wanted to survive on the ship. 

Jim Kirk’s are a bit more serious. 

“Hello Enterprise crew! This is your captain speaking. The stardate is the next one following yesterday. Temperature is, as always, at a lovely twenty-three degrees Celsius. The replicators are turning out specialty peach cobbler today so be sure to check that out. I have also been informed that rec room 4 will be showing the 21st century classic Shaun of the Dead tonight at 2100, which is a fun time for anyone. 

“Now that we all more or less have or space legs, I’m going to lay down a few ground rules. 

“Nothing too challenging, I promise. But I figured I’d let everyone know now what will earn you an automatic boot off of this ship. If anyone has a problem with this, I am off shift once beta shift starts and you are free to contact me so we may discuss your misgivings. 

“I’ll just dive right in then. 

“First: As you all may know, I’m not much for regulations. This does not mean that you can ignore them completely. Unofficially and off the record, however, I will back you up if a regulation is bent in order to protect the crew. Always double and triple check to make sure that this ‘bending’ is necessary though, because my own self will analyze it in depth. I will crack down on this if it starts to be abused. 

“Second: The Enterprise is a nonjudgmental zone. If there is ever a personal issue, embarrassing or private or scary or whatever the Hell the issue may be, my quarters are always available and I will do my best to work with you to make your tour comfortable. This is going to be a long journey and I refuse to have anyone feeling completely miserable if there can be something done. 

“Third: The Enterprise will have no discrimination. There is no tolerance for it. You may have your opinions, you may write or talk about them in your personal logs or to your friends, but if I hear of any incidents or of someone being made uncomfortable then you will be left at the closest starbase and transferred off of the ship before the day is out. 

“Fourth: Any case of harassment will be investigated in depth. Do not be afraid to report incidents. I will personally check them if you bring it to my attention. No one should be afraid of his or her fellow crewmembers. If you have harassed someone, emotionally, physically, or sexually, you will be off of the ship. If you are a senior officer and you have harassed someone with a lower rank than you, emotionally, physically, or sexually, I will have you demoted to an ensign on Delta Vega before you can say ‘I fucked up big time.’ 

“The entire gist of this little spiel is this: I never want anyone on this crew to feel alone. Five years on a starship is not easy. I want this to be as smooth of a ride as it can be with us hurtling through space at warp speed. 

“My goal is for the Enterprise to be the most understanding and loving environment in the universe. We have the opportunity to make a really fantastic home among the stars. We will set a precedent for those after us; every starship after our own will be able to see our success in having a safe internal environment and will be held to the same standards. 

“I know that the Enterprise has a good crew. Let's prove to the universe that the Enterprise has a great crew. 

“Until next time. Kirk out.” 

Kirk leans back in his seat, cracks his knuckles, and grins at the bridge crew staring at him. “We have an easy week ahead of us. Just cruising to the edge of Andromeda, picking up some data from the base out there. Chekov, get us a nice course that’ll avoid SS Antares, yeah? They’re a little too trigger happy these days and I’d rather not chance getting between them and whatever else they’re shooting at. Sulu, keep it steady, no need to burn out our brand spankin’ new core.” 

It still takes all of them (even Spock, Uhura internally grins) a couple of minutes to recover from the impromptu, philosophical discussion-causing lecture from the immature man-child. 

Uhura thinks the sentiment is sweet, but Kirk has proven that he can fake sweet and fake charm and fake everything else, so it won’t surprise her when nothing spawns from his declaration. 

She does take notice of McCoy’s blanched face when he retreats to sickbay after the speech. Kirk notices but says nothing, a strange, twisted turn to his mouth. 

They were thicker than thieves during the academy, even more so out in the black, she’s noticed. McCoy always seems to be trailing behind Kirk; silently fretting while Kirk takes the ring and dazzles the crowd with the red cape he calls confidence to irritate the bulls lurking around. 

If anyone knows the demented psychology behind Kirk’s desire to make the Enterprise one big happy family, it would be McCoy. 

She expects the speech to mean something, not Kirk being a lying bastard like usual, but she still prepares herself for the inevitable let down when Kirk proves his misogynistic ways and blows off a sexual harassment that he probably causes and she’ll have to convince Spock to play clean up and get the poor girl off the ship to an equally good opportunity like the Enterprise so her life isn’t completely ruined- 

Let it be known that Uhura does not think highly of Kirk. He can be good, he has the potential to be good, but there’s something broken in him that keeps him from reaching good. 

* * * * * 

Kirk continues his theme of, “The Enterprise is going to be a great home for everyone and we will all be family regardless of people’s personal preferences to not be buddy-buddy with every single coworker on a starship miles wide” by “gently encouraging” people to follow a rotation of eating meals with different people every day. So far, he’s worked his way through half of the engineering crew on beta and gamma shift. She doesn’t know of anyone else doing the same. 

Uhura sits with Spock when he’s available, and when he’s not she usually sits with Gaila and some girlfriends from the academy. 

It’s just her and Gaila today when Kirk pops up behind Gaila and covers her eyes from behind. 

“Guess who?” He winks at Uhura. 

Gaila pretends to think before slapping his hands, rougher than human etiquette allows. To his credit, he doesn’t flinch. “I’m guessing it’s some lousy kid that cries during sex.” 

Kirk plops into the seat next to her and holds his reddened hands to his chest. “You promised you wouldn’t tell!” 

She laughs, red hair bouncing around her face. “As if Uhura didn’t already know about your man issues. I bet she knew you were a crier from day one, right?” 

“Mm, I actually put my money on secret tiny dick insecurity,” Uhura responds, snorting. 

Kirk chuckles, leaning back in his seat. He talks about anything and everything with them over the course of the meal, eyes straying to Gaila more often than not. 

Uhura wishes she didn’t know so much about their “friends-with-benefits” relationship. Sharing a dorm with Gaila was traumatizing enough. The details that girl would share- 

She eventually stands up to leave and says her goodbyes, grudgingly admitting that lunch could have gone worse. Kirk stayed polite and even seemed interested in Uhura’s ramblings about the tablet they received from Andromeda probes weeks ago that they just finished translating. 

She ends up getting side tracked before she leaves the cafeteria. Scotty, bless the poor man, is arguing with an Andorian ensign she can’t remember the name of, and she steps in to correct the cultural-lingual misunderstanding before Scotty’s accent gets any thicker in his frustration and causes a real issue. 

When she turns to leave for real, she sees Kirk with an arm around Gaila’s shoulders, leading her out of the room. She can’t see Gaila’s face, what with it turned down to the ground and her hair falling in a curtain around her, but Kirk’s face is devoid of emotion. 

She wonders when making booty calls in the middle of the day became so dramatic. It’s not like anyone would have called them out on it if they left like normal people instead of faking emotional distress. 

God knows she’s dragged Spock out of the science labs often enough that the his coworkers now knew the difference between her, “I want to talk to my boyfriend” face and her, “I want to ‘talk’ with my boyfriend” face. 

* * * * * 

The next day, Kirk pulls Uhura into the ready room. 

“I need you to give me a list of anyone you are aware of that has been Gaila’s partners since she started serving on the Enterprise.” 

Uhura stares. “I hardly see how that is appropriate information for a captain to request.” 

His face darkens. “Lieutenant, I’m going to make this clear now. That was not not a request.” 

“I will not divulge someone else’s personal life to satiate your jealousy-!” 

“Gaila has requested a transfer because an ex-lover has been harassing her so extensively that she is fearing for her life! She refuses to tell me who said ex-lover is, and I intend to find out! Now you can either tell me what I need to know or you risk the Enterprise losing one of her best officers and possibly more in the future if I cannot find out who is doing this quickly enough!” 

He steps back suddenly; probably realizing that screaming in Uhura’s face is not the best course of action. His hands are folded into the curve of his lower back. His lips press together tightly. 

“Gaila is afraid for her life. That is how bad this has gotten, Uhura. Do not make me have to make this issue public. She does not like to air her personal laundry and I will not put her through the scandal if he or she happens to be a high enough officer to cause one. If I do not figure this out as soon as possible, I will not be able to give enough support to ensure that the courts, no matter how understanding, will not bring her species into this. 

“If you’re her friend, you will do this for her.” 

Uhura speaks before thinking. 

“If she doesn’t want to bring this to the court, then why should I tell you?” 

“Because I can and will keep her name out of this if we act quickly enough. If we don’t and someone else brings it up, or if she decides that she does want to turn him in, I cannot protect her identity. I cannot make this an anonymous court. I cannot expect other people he or she has harassed to speak up if we wait to long.” 

“Why are you assuming there is more than one person being bothered?” 

“I don’t have to assume. Multiple ensigns have been to sickbay for treatment. Ensigns that are not in the engineering or experimental science departments or on any away teams, Uhura. No one has said anything. 

“McCoy told me they all said the injuries came from tripping or similar accidents. Gaila is the first person to even tell me directly that someone caused her bruises. I couldn’t act until someone said something, and now I can, and I will. 

“But I can only act if I have a list of suspects, and you are the only person that can give me any idea of where to start. Now will you stop questioning my every step and tell me the damn names? This isn’t just about Gaila but McCoy can’t tell me who had similar injuries to hers and she is terrified. Uhura, please-” 

Kirk’s manic eyes spook her, more than she cares to admit. She rattles off the list of people she knew Gaila had definitely had relationships with, people Gaila had thought about approaching, people Gaila wouldn’t approach but would accept if they had approached her, and people Gaila had mentioned interest in in passing. 

Part of her feels like she’s betraying Gaila’s trust. 

Mostly, she hopes that Kirk catches the bastard by the end of the day. 

* * * * * 

She’s on gamma shift when Kirk storms onto the bridge. 

“Lieutenant Uhura, tell the closest base we’re coming down for impromptu shore leave. It’s been approved by Admiral Pike already; the paperwork should be transferred to your PADD in the next fifteen minutes. We’ll be there for two days if all goes well. 

“I want us at said base five minutes ago, ensign. Make it happen. 

“Commander, excuse me.” 

He doesn’t wait for Spock’s agreement before stabbing the intercom to turn it on. 

“Lieutenant Commander Rogers, report to the transporter room immediately. 

“Doctor McCoy, report to the transporter room in fifteen minutes. 

“Any of the people I spoke to earlier today, if you are prepared and willing, go speak to Doctor McCoy immediately before he arrives at the transporter room. 

“Kirk out.” 

His fists clench in time with his jaw. 

Uhura, earlier, assumed that most cadets learned how to march in physical training and forgot it by the time they got into the black, scratching it off as useless information. 

Kirk’s four-count-turn, tall posture, and precise steps to the turbolift disprove that assumption. 

Two days later, they will leave the base with one less officer. Said officer will be in jail for at least a decade with no chance for parole. Ensigns will walk up to Kirk and shaking his hand gratefully in the corridors. Uhura will see one of these exchanges and note Kirk’s humility and slight blush before he quickly walks away, uncomfortable. 

She will ask, “Why don’t you just accept the thanks?” 

He will respond, “I shouldn’t be getting thanked for barely righting a wrong underneath my command. It’s my own fault it got as bad as it did.” 

She will ask, “How is it your fault?” 

He will respond, “It’s my ship. Anything that goes wrong on it is my fault. I should have responded earlier when I first suspected. I should have been able to get a better punishment. A decade’s the least he deserves.” 

She will say, “You couldn’t have known.” 

He will respond, “It doesn’t matter. I should have known.” 

Uhura will realize that Kirk might be a leader she can respect. He might be a leader she can follow anywhere. 

Well, maybe not anywhere/everywhere quite yet. But maybe one day.


End file.
